


Cold Case

by Maenyd



Category: Bleach, 幽☆遊☆白書 | YuYu Hakusho: Ghost Files
Genre: Childhood Friends, Crime Fighting, Demon Hunters, F/M, First Crush, Ghost Hunters, Murder Mystery, SSDGM, Supernatural Elements
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-03
Updated: 2021-02-02
Packaged: 2021-03-05 23:06:41
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 19,897
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25693264
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Maenyd/pseuds/Maenyd
Summary: It wasn't how either one of them would have planned a reunion, but they were exactly what the other needed. Sure it had been about a decade since they saw each other last, but neither of them was ever the sort to abandon a friend in need. YusukexTatsuki Rating for possible TW including violence, death, essentially anything you'd see in canon or on a true crime show.
Relationships: Yusuke/Tatsuki
Comments: 3
Kudos: 4





	1. Really? This is how?

The chill of autumn crept through Tatsuki’s hoodie as she walked home from the dojo. She’d stayed later than usual to try and shadowbox her way through her frustrations but it seemed no matter how long she stayed or how far she pushed herself she always wound up on the same negative loop. She couldn’t punch away her feelings of ineptitude or kick the knowledge that she was losing her friends. Logically she knew what was happening, they were drifting apart by circumstance over choice but seeing their social media and running into them while she was out made it feel…made Tatsuki feel forgotten. She felt left out. She couldn’t fight, she knew this, but she could still laugh and listen and lend an ear. How many times had one of their foes attacked her just to get at them? And still they refused to tell her what was going on. Those bastards in black even went so far as to try and erase her memories. It never lasted long, her mind shook the haze they tried to lay across her experiences and brought each memory back with perhaps more detail than usual.

  
Tatsuki tightened her hoodie and hunched her shoulders as she walked. Someone had been following her lately and with all the bullshit Ichigo usually ended up in, she wouldn’t be surprised if it was some Shinigami jerkwad making sure she stayed put. Or maybe it would be another one of his enemies trying to use her against him. Hadn’t they figured out that she was least likely to be noticed if she disappeared?

  
Tatsuki picked up her pace as they left the busier streets. It was a twenty minute walk from the dojo to home and she still had ten to go with this strange presence hunting her.  
A hand clamped over her mouth when she turned to look behind her. She’d exhausted herself at the dojo but even at full strength, her abductor was built like steel and unmoving as she thrashed against him.

“Don’t worry miko, you’ll be reborn soon.”

Tatsuki released a sharp breath behind his hand as a blade pierced her chest. His arm released her and she crumbled to the ground, still staring at the blade embedded between her ribs, blade pointing upwards into her heart. Was all of that blood hers?  
The sound of angry voices and rapid footsteps came, followed by someone shouting her name as she fell to the side. She wasn’t ready to die but she felt so cold. Her limbs had gone numb and fear pulsed through her before it faded away in the haze of her mind.

“Tatsuki!” Someone had lifted her into their arms. “Tatsuki! Don’t you die!”

His eyes were so big and emotional, his voice so rough, and those dark locks of his.

“Yusuke,” she breathed out. “Hey.”

~!~ 

Yusuke paced outside of the room at Karakura Hospital. Goddamn it, they were supposed the be hunting a serial killer. Yusuke was supposed to be out there kicking this guys ass instead of leaving it to Kurama and Hiei but he couldn’t let Tatsuki die alone on the pavement. Boton had kept her on the edge of living until the ambulance arrived and even rode in the back to make sure she stayed alive until the doctors could help her. Now Boton was slumped in a chair outside the room beside Kuwabara. It wasn’t supposed to be like this. He wasn’t supposed to reunite with Tatsuki while she was on death’s door and he was a heartbeat away from losing control of his mazouku blood.

“How do you know this chick?” Kuwabara asked, bringing Yusuke from his internal strife.

“I used to live here in Karakura, back when mom was still with dad.” Yusuke stopped pacing for a moment and looked in through the door. “Tatsuki and I went to the same dojo as little kids, she knocked me flat on my ass and I swore I’d get her back one day.”

Before he’d gone up against her, there hadn’t been a single student who’d managed to get him to do much more than drop to a knee. Sure they were only little kids, but it was exciting and fun to see who was the strongest. Then he’d been challenged by Tatsuki and pop! One good hit and he was flat on his ass while his eyes were filled with stars. Now she was in intensive care with more tubes and wires hooked up to her than there was any right to be. Tatsuki wasn’t supposed to be broken like this, she was supposed to be ready knock him on his ass for bailing on them for so long.

“Looking back, it was probably one of the first signs I had demon blood. Definitely my first crush.”

“I thought your true love was always Keiko!” Kuwabara shouted. The nurse on their floor leaned over and shushed him angrily, causing the carrot topped boy to apologize before scolding Yusuke again, this time in a whisper.

“Keiko dumped me a while back,” Yusuke shrugged. “She couldn’t deal with the demon side.”

There was more to it than that. Much more. For all Keiko had wailed on him over the years it had never been anything but enraged punishment. He was a fighter, he wanted someone he could spar with or at least show off to. His blood craved someone who could withstand his physical prowess in bed and Keiko…she always wanted to stop as soon as he started to speed up or go harder. She wanted him to stop fighting, to be more refined, to study harder, but Yusuke wasn’t destined to live out the rest of his days as a human and that was another hurdle to get over.

The elevator dinged and a cluster of bodies emerged, led by one of the people Yusuke had wanted to fight most growing up. Kurosaki Ichigo had been in nearly as many street fights as Yusuke and the few times he needed backup, he’d called on Ichigo to help. The energy around him wasn’t human though, not any more than Yusuke’s was and both boys knew the other had changed. Boton noticed too because she’d stood up and was gazing over every one of the people in the little group.

“Urameshi?” Ichigo blinked. He’d gotten taller and leaned since they were seven, that was for damn sure. Any other place and Yusuke might have tried to pick a fight for fun.

“What the hell happened?”

“We were tailing someone but they got to Tatsuki before we could get to him.”

“What do you mean-“

The nurse shushed them again and the small group shrank down again. It didn’t matter though because Ichigo was telling some busty redhead to get in there and heal Tatsuki. Logically he knew that was the best thing to do but his Mazouku blood was riding higher now that there was the possibility of having someone to defend Tatsuki from. Especially when Boton was fussing and demanding to know why a Shinigami was wandering the living world and heading for Tatsuki’s room.

“We can talk about what happened to asshole later,” Yusuke cut them off when the Nurse slammed her hands on the desk.

Yusuke resumed pacing outside as the other teen leaned over Tatsuki and began to heal her. It was probably for the best that Hiei was still on the hunt for that guy if this chick could actually reverse a wound that intense. Ichigo wasn’t pacing, but he was leaning against the wall opposite Tatsuki’s door and his friends were seated near Boton and Kuwabara.

“So this guy you were tracking down,” Ichigo started.

“The rest of the team is finishing the job,” Yusuke interrupted. “They’ll get it done and he won’t be a problem ever again.”

“Good. But why Tatsuki?”

“The dickwad’s been hunting down women who are descended from tennyo. Something about cleaning the bloodline to keep humans pure. Bunch of bullshit is what it is.”

Yusuke paused and looked inside to see Tatsuki was now taking deeper breaths. She was still asleep, undoubtedly drugged up from her IV drip and god knows what else. “He’s gotten twelve other people and Tatsuki was almost lucky number thirteen. If we’d been faster she wouldn’t have been and ‘almost’ at all.”

“Descended from tennyo? Sounds like a fairy tale.”

“You’re a Shinigami and you’re calling tennyo a fairy tale?” Boton asked with a light laugh. “Gotei needs to spend more time educating their agents.”

“I’m not Gotei, not technically,” Ichigo grumbled. “Dad’s the former captain, he bailed to the human world and met mom. Guess I’m one of those fairy tale kids too.”

“You and me both,” Yusuke snorted. “Ancestor turned out to be a demon king and I won the genetic lotto.”

Ichigo gave Yusuke a measuring stare that was returned in kind. The new information they’d given each other was filed away and they had moved on to assessing the other’s power. Ichigo had evolved from the snot nosed kid who’d also had his ass kicked by the girl laying comatose. He had power now, wild like Yusuke’s own but whereas his was a sort of primal instinct of life, Ichigo’s came across as the primal instinct of death. Opposite equals on the spectrum of otherworldly beings. Maybe they’d get the chance to really duke it out one of these days, some place where nobody would get hurt unless they were in on the fight.

Orihime came out from the room looking paler than when she’d gone in and Yusuke felt his hackles rise.

“She’ll be okay, but the wound just kept trying to negate my healing powers. The weapon he used to attack her wasn’t a normal one.” Orihime smiled when Ichigo took her hand in his and Yusuke almost snorted to see something that lovely dovey and cliché. A reaper falling in love with a healer? “That’s why it took so long, I had to keep rejecting the foreign energy until my power could actually get to Tatsuki.”

“Is she going to be okay?” Yusuke asked as he peered into the room over Orihime’s shoulder. She didn’t look as pale or close to death now. In fact, Tatsuki looked kinda pretty in the autumn moonlight and probably would have looked even better if she wasn’t in a hospital bed.

“Yes, she’ll have a scar though. It was the only thing I couldn’t erase.”

“It’ll make a helluva story,” Yusuke shook his head before turning to Boton and Kuwabara. “You two go on ahead and see if Kurama and Hiei are finished. I think I’m going to hang around until she wakes up.”

His friends seemed reluctant but agreed, Kuwabara especially seemed to want to hang back and talk to him. Later, he’d told his friend, which was as close to a promise as Yusuke gave anymore. Promises just got broken.

“I think I’ll hang back too, you guys head home.” Ichigo took Boton’s vacant seat and extended his legs. “I haven’t had the chance to talk to Yusuke for a while.”

Orihime decided against that idea and went back into the hospital room to sit with the girl Yusuke had nearly failed. Ichigo’s other friends took off though, apparently satisfied that Yusuke wouldn’t be too much of a threat if he chose to attack. The nurse in the corner seemed more content than before as they left, glowering until the remaining teens hung their head to avoid her glare.

“Been a long time man,” Ichigo broke the silence. “We wrote you after you left.”

“Yeah, mom fell off the wagon and we had twenty-four hours to move.” Yusuke had always been excited to check the mail and see the letters from his friends. Then one day his mom had just packed them up, left most of their shit behind including Yusuke’s stack of letters. Maybe that was when he really started to resent his mom. It was bad enough she took him from their house on Ikaruga street, pulled him from his karate classes and his friends, but that move had stolen the last bits of happiness and friendship he had as a child until he met Keiko.

“You got a phone?” Ichigo asked, pulling his out.

“Hell no, I don’t have the money for that.”

“Expense it to your boss,” Ichigo snorted. “I got mine from Seireitei after I told them I needed to be able to communicate with the rest of my team and ‘external resources’.”

“External resources?” Yusuke scoffed. “You mean the pizza place.”

“Got me a phone,” Ichigo grinned.

“Alright, I’ll give it a try. Give me your number anyway.”

Yusuke went to the night nurse to borrow a pen and some paper, being as polite and quiet as he could be and returned to get Ichigo’s phone number. He got the number for the Kurosaki household and for Orihime too. Damn, his old buddy must really trust him to share that chick’s contact info.

“My phone dies sometimes when I’m at her place,” Ichigo admitted sheepishly. “I get distracted.”

“I can see why,” Yusuke chuckled. “She really healed Tatsuki, didn’t she?”

“Physically, yeah. We haven’t really been good to Tatsuki lately. A few months ago her mom moved back to their ancestral home and she sort of shut everyone out. We weren’t exactly close after everything that happened with the Gotei but then that happened and I didn’t know what to do.”

“Ancestral home,” Yusuke murmured as his brain caught on the words. “Tatsuki’s always been paranoid about personal relationships, you know that. If it’s not a bulldozer then she’s not convinced. Where is that ancestral home?”

“I, wait, what?”

“If my team loses this guy he might be heading there. That tennyo I told you about, all the girls are related to the same one. This guy has a vendetta against one person. Hey, lemme borrow that.” Yusuke reached for the cellphone still in Ichigo’s grasp and pulled his notebook from his pocket. Kurama always had his phone charged and by the second ring he picked it up, voice wary. Yusuke didn’t waste time with pleasantries. “I need Boton to look up Tatsuki’s ancestral home, through her mother’s side. It’s the…hey asshole, what’s her mom’s clan?”

“It’s Himura dickface,” Ichigo grumbled and settled into his chair to nap.

“Look up the Himura clan ancestral home. I think I know where this guy is hiding out. And Tell Boton I’m requisitioning a work phone.”  
Kurama chuckled at the last part. They’d get Yusuke as soon as they found out where the Himura lands were located. A quick farewell and Yusuke returned his old friend’s phone to him.

“You want in on this guy?” Yusuke asked as he sat back down.

“Nah, I think I’m going to stick around and bulldoze some apologies.”

The two of them sat in easy companionship until the sun rose and Dr. Ishida showed up. Strangely enough, old man Kurosaki was there too in an obnoxious Hawaiian shirt while twin tweenies were in tow.

“Holy crap, you guys learned to walk,” Yusuke blinked as he realized who the twins were.

“Yusuke!” Isshin crowed. He pushed past the ashen hair doctor and scooped Yusuke into a crushing hug. Crushing for a human at least. “You’ve gotten big and strong my boy.”

“Yeah, shit happens,” Yusuke grinned crookedly. “You guys taking Tatsuki home?”

“Once she wakes up, my eldest daughter will move into Ichigo’s old room,” Isshin nodded. “It isn’t right, living alone in that giant house of hers.”

“I still live in my room,” Ichigo shouted.

Yusuke ignored the two of them. The twins were in Tatsuki’s room, quiet as mice as they found seats around the hospital bed. He looked over at Dr. Ishida and found he was watching Yusuke just as closely.

“I’ll take her home,” Yusuke told him. He stuffed his hands in his jacket pockets and wondered what the hell he was doing. “This guy is still on the loose and until we find him, I’m not chancing it.”

“We can keep her safe too,” Ichigo scowled.

“Can you kill a human?” Yusuke turned to face him down. He knew that his face had lost some of it’s humanity during this conversation. The joking side of him he turned on to keep humans at ease was tucked away until it was needed again. “Not a threat to humanity or a psychic, just a regular psycho running around and killing people. This case is outside of your jurisdiction Ichigo. Chances are, if he saw your girl use any of her powers he’d probably start to target her too and you still couldn’t act because he’s just some sick fuck.”

“You never told me what it is you do,” Ichigo frowned.

“I’m a spirit detective,” Yusuke told him. “I work for the guys your bosses work for in exchange for remaining in the human world.”

“Yeah? And why do you need permission to be here?”

“Because I’m a demon king.”

~!~

R&R and Remember to wash your hands and wear your masks, and don’t put your travel mug in your bag unless it has a really good seal!  
I love you, be good, try not to fuck shit up <3


	2. Chapter 2

Yusuke had kept a close ear to the sound of Tatsuki’s pulse. The problem was that his own heartbeat kept getting in the way. The scent of Tatsuki’s fear and blood had kicked it back into motion after almost four years of silence. Three years of training in Makai had helped him get used to the lack of sound and 9 months in the human world made him start to resent it. Night after night of Keiko complaining that she couldn’t tell if he was alive and with her or just a dream. 

Yusuke looked into the room where Orihime still kept an eye on the girl he’d almost failed. Instinct was driving him to sit in the room with her, to make sure the redhead wasn’t going to try anything, but Yusuke still had enough of a brain to know instincts were a slippery slope. For all her knew, his Mazoku blood decided she was dinner. He needed Kurama or Hiei. They’d know what the hell was going on and why he suddenly had this fixation on her.

~

Tatsuki hadn’t expected a stabbing to feel so cold, burning cold, but she’d never been stabbed before either. To think, of all the wounds she expected in this town, stabbing had never been amongst them. Not when she’d been drained spiritually, crushed, broken, strangled...stabbed in the back by some random killer had never once factored in. It seemed too unrealistic given everything that happened around her. The feeling of ice cold hatred lingered still where he’d attacked, though not as rough and cruel as it had been last night. 

When Tatsuki pushed herself to sit up she realized that the well lit room was not some part of the afterworld but in Karakura General. To her left Orihime was perking up and to the right she could hear Ichigo arguing with someone just as abrasive and grumpy. 

“You’re awake,” Orihime spoke up. “If Urameshi hadn’t saved you, I don’t think you would have made it.”

“I wasn’t sure if it was really him.” Tatsuki exhaled slowly and almost snorted as the two in the hall were scolded for being too loud. “I suppose some miracle happened that cured me of all my wounds. Or maybe I dreamed my injuries up.”

“I wanted to tell you,” Orihime’s voice shook as she responded. “I did, but every time I tried they’d show up and you’d get your memory wiped or they’d threaten to...and then after Aizen they said if I told you that they’d lock me up in Seireitei.” 

“You’re telling me now,” Tatsuki managed to get out.

“I don’t know who Urameshi works for, but when seireitei showed up and saw him, they were shaking from fear. He told them you had full clearance and they just, nodded and ran.” Orihime shifted in her seat. “I wanted to tell you, I wanted to talk to my friend about everything and get advice, but whenever I tried they were always there and then after the Winter War it seemed like I was always being followed.”

“And Ichigo?”

“They threatened the twins and gifu-”

“Gifu?” Tatsuki couldn’t help but raise a brow at the rapidly pinkening redhead. Calling Isshin her father-in-law meant a lot must have happened since they last spoke. “So you finally caught him?”

“I suppose so,” Orihime smiled. “I was hoping that once you were released we could maybe talk about it over tea.” 

“I’ll have to think about it. It’s been a really long time since we were close, it’s been over a year since we even hung out.” Tatsuki looked the other girl in the eyes. “I get keeping secrets, but being cut out entirely? I appreciate the healing, but I need time.”

~  
“Hey! Can you idiots get the hell in here and stop causing a damn scene?”

Yusuke paused the headlock he had on Ichigo and looked up to see Tatsuki frowning at the both of them from her hospital bed. She always was way scarier than any authority figure he’d ever met and her displeasure could put Keiko’s to shame. The two boys stood upright with a grumble and straightened their clothes before walking in, ignoring the nurse and in Yusuke’s case, flipping her off. Yusuke had never liked hospital rooms. The whole place smelled like bodily fluids, disease, and bleach. Even Tatsuki’s room had that smell to it, but it was easier to ignore with the people inside. Ichigo and Orihime both reminded him of Reikai but Tatsuki made him think about something else. Something he couldn’t quite place his finger on. She was still in her hospital gown, blanket pulled up to her waist and wild hair draped over her shoulder to avoid the ‘injury’ her friend had healed and his dumb heart was thundering louder than before. 

“Sleeping Beauty is finally awake,” Yusuke grinned at her. “Good, I hate repeating myself.”

“The hell’d you say?” Tatsuki raised a brow. Yeah, the expression she wore was even scarier than Genkai. 

“I mean, if you needed me to I would, but these two are outside of the case so they’re not as need to know as you are,” Yusuke held up his hands and backpedaled. “You’re about to be my partner after all and they’re more like...outside resources.”

“Partner?” Tatsuki blinked in surprise. Yusuke decided then and there that he’d try to get her to make that face more often. It was cute.

“Officially speaking, you’re now an asset of Reikai and a spirit detective in training under yours truly,” Yusuke jerked his thumb at his chest with a wide grin. “It’s the best way to keep you safe in case we can’t catch this guy and if we do, you can start solving your own cases.” 

“Back the hell up, why is the spirit world trying to catch a wack job killing random girls?”

“Because you’re not random Tatsuki,” Ichigo answered. “He targeted you specifically.”

“Take the wind out of my sails why doncha?” Yusuke very nearly growled. “We managed to figure out this guy is hunting women from your clan because of your tennyo background.”

“The…” Tatsuki blinked several times before arguing. “That’s a fairy tale, and even if it was true, because you jerks have proven fairy tales are at least somewhat real, it’s been centuries since it supposedly happened.”

“You’re preaching to the choir here. But let’s pretend you do have celestial blood, how’d it happen and where?”

“The back of your mom’s sedan, the hell should I know?” Tatsuki grumbled at the look he gave her before relenting with a sigh. “Fine. The story goes that once upon a time we were the keepers of a shrine to Tsukuyomi and because we were so dedicated and faithful, one of his handmaidens was sent as a bride to the lead of the family. You’re telling me that I was killed because this guy really thinks I’m magic?”

“Pretty much,” Yusuke nodded. “Kurama and Boton are working out where the family shrine is and seeing if they can try to trap him there. You and I are going to head back to your place in case he decides to finish the job.”

“I’m bait,” Tatsuki frowned. “And there’s two family shrines.”

“I’ll be sure to let them know. We’ll work on training your spirit energy while you’re housebound.”

“I’ve tried, believe me.”

“Were you trained by the spook squad or a real living teacher?” Yusuke grinned, knowing the answer. He could feel Tatsuki’s energy bubbling up through the night even if the other two couldn’t.

Yusuke pulled up the other empty chair and turned it so he could face Tatsuki as he explained once again what and who he was. He may have glossed over some parts, the demon part specifically, and he tried to brush aside his breakup with Keiko aside but he was pretty sure Tatsuki was almost happy about that. She was less happy hearing about the killer who had taken out twelve of her distant relations because of the very diluted tennyo blood in her veins. “Of course, every bit of information we have to go on doesn’t mean shit. You’re our only witness and any lingering energy he might have left behind was removed by Orihime or trampled by the police last night.”

“He had a soft voice,” Tatsuki interrupted him. “And he was happy when he spoke. Like he was doing me a favor.” 

“What did he say?” Yusuke leaned forward in his seat. The others in the room had fallen silent as well.

“He said ‘don’t worry miko, you’ll be reborn soon’ but it wasn’t malicious. And then he stabbed me and it felt like ice in my veins. It still does.”

“Still? I thought you healed her,” Yusuke turned his gaze onto Orihime. He could vaguely hear Ichigo starting to jump to her defense over the low growl of his own instincts riling up again. 

“I did everything I could, but I couldn’t get past Tatsuki’s energy.”

“Will you calm the fuck down?” Tatsuki swatted at him. Her skin came into contact with his, effortless as it refocused his energy onto her. She wasn’t striking him, not full of anger or malicious intent, simply patting him to get his attention. “I’m alive, and being alive makes it a lot easier to figure out what’s going on. It’s not fucking with me so let’s focus on the case until it does.”

~

Tatsuki wasn’t so sure about everything Yusuke kept telling her. He kept insisting that with the right training she’d be a spirit detective and able to kick anything’s ass. All because she’d died in a traumatic way. If Trauma was supposed to be a trigger then she should have had something already. 

She found herself pausing when they got to her street. Despite police having washed the pavement she could still see the brown stain where he’d attempted to end her life. She’d been so close to her house too, right there, two blocks down. Had none of the neighbors heard the scuffle? Had they only known about it after Yusuke had shown up and started shouting? She felt the presence of the dark haired detective to her left and exhaled slowly. If felt strange looking down at the place she died. Tatsuki had never felt unsafe on her own street and even though Yusuke was with her she still felt like the killer could leap out at any moment and finish the job. That was what they wanted though. They wanted him to try and come for her again so they could stop him. Tatsuki startled when her companion spoke up and kept walking towards the house. Two of Yusuke’s teammates were supposed to be waiting there with information and Ichigo had invited himself over later. 

Tatsuki could feel the two people inside. Just as she’d always been able to sense where her companions were, and now where Yusuke was, she could tell they were inside of the building already. 

“And you said you didn’t have any skills,” Yusuke grinned as she stood in front of her door. 

“I’ve always been able to sense people with lots of energy,” Tatsuki frowned at him. 

“Alright, so if you can sense ‘em what can you tell me?”

That was something Tatsuki had never really tried to do. She knew power signals, knew who was who and how far away they were, but she’d never actually tried to Read someone, much less someone she didn’t know. Yusuke didn’t seem to be in a rush and truthfully, Tatsuki wasn’t quite sure if she was ready to go inside where she’d be trapped. She took a breath and tried to ‘taste’ the people inside her home. One of them was practically a neon sign in her front room and felt more like Orihime and Chad than any of the non-humans she’d ever felt. 

“There’s a human in the living room,” Tatsuki told him. “Human Plus I guess, he feels like the psychics around here.”

“Got it in one. That’s Kuwabara.”

“I don’t know how to explain the other one. He’s almost like you but not. Like a balloon full of needles.”

“That would be Hiei,” Yusuke shoved his hands in his pockets. “I feel like a balloon full of needles?”

“No, but he does. The thing you two have in common is sort of sticky? Like molasses.”

“Got it. So then how can you tell us apart?”

“I’ve known you since we could walk,” Tatsuki snorted and opened her front door. “That’s like asking how I can tell what my arm feels like.” 

Tatsuki ignored whatever sputtering he made behind her and kicked her shoes off when she entered. The boy in the living room was saying something and Yusuke was arguing in response while the prickly demon she’d felt was now outside of the house. Presumably keeping an eye out for her killer. No matter. Tatsuki made her way up the stairs to her room for a change of clothes and a shower. 

~

“Not much of a talker,” Kuwabara grumbled as Tatsuki’s form made its way up the stairs. 

“She’s had a long twenty-four hours,” Yusuke brushed it off. “Did we learn anything new?”

“Not really, but I’ve got some bad news. Boton got called away to Spirit world before she could go to the old Himura place and Kurama had an emergency come up with his family.” Yusuke grumbled at the information is friend gave him. They were down two people and the timing couldn’t have been worse. 

“And you still can’t sense this guy’s signature?”

“No, I went over the crime scene to try and get a better sense feel but the cops muddied everything up again.” 

If they had been a half second later Tatsuki would be dead but they’d have gotten a feel for this guy’s energy signature. Yusuke didn’t regret tossing the very little evidence they might have gained though. Not when he’d managed to save someone he gave a shit about. Admitted, he hadn’t been the greatest friend about contacting Tatsuki or Ichigo over the years but he’d been a little busy. 

“Tatsuki said Hiei and I felt like molasses,” Yusuke flopped onto the couch. “Do demons feel like molasses?”

“Hm, I mean, I kinda get it. Youki is dark and kind of sticks around, but I’d compare it more to old natto or something. Not something sweet.”

Maybe the sweetness was that tennyo blood she was being hunted for. Yusuke shook his head as he played the thought back in his head. He should have headed back to Makai after the breakup and tried fucking his way through the harem Raizen had left him. Something to take the edge off of his libido before he came back to catch a killer and protect a nubile young woman. Shit. Time to refocus on what they knew instead of thinking about Tatsuki in the shower. 

“Isn’t there something on TV?” Yusuke grumbled and looked for the remote. 

“I’ve been trying to find the remote since we got here last night,” Kuwabara sighed. “This girl’s house is way too clean and nothing makes sense.”

Yusuke stood up and turned about the room trying to figure out where Tatsuki and her mom might have hidden the remote. He didn’t see the remote; he saw Tatsuki coming down the stairs with a towel around her shoulders. The dress she’d walked home in was gone, replaced by baggy pants that clung to her hips and a tight shirt that should have been illegal. The smell of the hospital and old blood was gone, replaced by soap and warm skin as she finished coming down the stairs.

“Whoa,” Kuwabara’s whisper seemed loud in the quiet of the living room. 

“Feel better?” Yusuke asked as she came into the room and made a beeline for the coffee table. She reached underneath and the sound of velcro ripping made him grin. “Still hiding stuff I see.”

“I could hear you guys bitching about it while I was getting dressed,” Tatsuki tossed the remote over. “You must be Kuwabara.” 

“The legendary Kuwabara Kazuma, at your service,” The carrot haired boy grinned and hurried to take her hand. Yusuke knew the right hook was coming even if his friend didn’t. 

“The hell’d you try to rush her for?” Yusuke yelled. 

“No shit!” Tatsuki grumbled and shook her hand out. “Nice to meet you I guess?” 

“I should have seen that coming.” Kuwabara sat upright and rubbed his chin where she’d caught him. Even if Tatsuki thought she was powerless there was the trace of her energy lingering on Kuwabara’s skin. “I’m one of the guys helping to keep you safe.”

“Right,” Tatsuki frowned. “The kitchen is down the hall to the left if you’re hungry.”

“You should eat too,” Yusuke told her seriously. 

“Should,” Tatsuki agreed as she sat on the couch. “I just, I don’t have much of an appetite.”

Yusuke didn’t push it but the youkai inside of him was bristling over her lack of appetite. Instead he sat back down on the couch and watched her flip through the channels until she settled on a martial arts tournament. It gave Yusuke time to study her. Watching TV allowed her to get out of her head and as a result, he saw more of the girl he used to know. Yeah her hair had gotten longer and she’d certainly filled out in all the best places, but the way her lips twitched into a grin and her brow furrowed was familiar. 

“So why’d she dump you?” Tatsuki asked as the commercials came on. 

“Do we really have to talk about it?” Yusuke grumbled. 

“Are we partners or not?” She’d been polite enough to wait until Kuwabara left at least. “I don’t remember Keiko well, but if you’re keeping some secret that could end up tearing us apart too, then I need to know.” 

“Fine. I went through some changes after my last big case. Same as your ancestor’s DNA decided to pop up in you, so did mine. Except I turned into a demon and Keiko couldn’t handle it anymore.”

“Were you eating defenseless maidens or something?” 

“Not like that,” Yusuke grinned at her with waggling eyebrows. “But that was the first thing she complained about.” He turned back to watch the TV. “I was too rough, and then after I dialed it back she said I fought too much, and when I tried holding back I didn’t study enough.” 

“That’s dumb. I can’t claim to have met any demons before you but something like fighting has always been part of who you were Yusuke.” He felt Tatsuki shift on the couch and turned to look. She’d moved her legs under her and was leaning on her fist as she measured him. It didn’t feel like she was looking for weaknesses or judging him, just assessing who she was stuck with. Then she was done and they were back to watching TV like nothing had happened. Just like that, they were kids again and watching cartoons. It was nice.

~

“Do you have the case file?” Tatsuki asked some time later. The sun had set long ago and it wouldn’t be long before the witching hour was upon them. “I want to see the ones he got to. See if I know them from family reunions or anything like that.”

“Boton usually carries stuff like that,” Yusuke shook his head. “I usually just end up kicking ass.”

“This time you’re wrong,” The carrot haired teen piped in from where he sat playing tekken. He hit pause before reaching for his bag and pulling a file out. “Boton left this behind. I was going to return it, but since Tatsuki’s joining the case, she may as well have a look.”

“Weren’t you just up my ass about homework?” Yusuke passed the manilla folder over to his newest partner. 

“It’s the cultural fair. Ever since the team died, Karate club isn’t participating.” Tatsuki shifted to the edge of the couch and spread the file out over the coffee table. “Besides, this is more important.”

Kuwabara watched Tatsuki as she poured over the file instead. His senses kept telling him she wasn’t human but they weren’t shouting to fight her or run away like the other apparitions he’d met over the years. Shizuru’d be able to read her emotions better but he could tell that there was more than a little going on in there. 

“I’d have come to the funeral if I’d known,” Yusuke spoke up after Tatsuki began lining the victim’s faces up next to each other. “Or at least come around to see how you were doing. How long ago was it?”

“Two years ago. Just before everything really went to shit.” Tatsuki paused when she came to a new photo. “This is Aya. She lost the…wait a minute.” Tatsuki looked through the victim’s list again before leaping up and hurrying up the stairs. 

“What’s that about?” Kuwabara hadn’t known her very long but the vortex of emotion was steadying out and her energy had become focused. It fit her better and the rush of energy was making Yusuke perk up too. Good. Kuwabara hadn’t known about the breakup before last night, but he knew something big had happened just from the way Yusuke had been acting lately. The thundering sound of Tatsuki coming back down the stairs with her school bag and a photo album made Kuwabara return to the case in front of him. Kuwabara would figure it out eventually, he was a detective after all.

Tatsuki pulled a pack of highlighters from her back along with a notebook and a thick marker. 

“Aya Himura,” she spoke as she wrote on the photo that made her pause. The photo album was next on the table, covering the minimally filled files on each girl. “And then…” Tatsuki turned to a group picture of exactly 13 little girls dressed in kimono. Yusuke knew exactly which one was Tatsuki. “This is Yuta, because she had the mole on her lip.” Another victim’s photo was marked with her name. “She was the second one who got caught. Nina and Sheena were third and fourth…they could never split up…Mara’s mom got upset about the game so her dad brought her along…”

“What are you talking about?” Yusuke asked. “What game?”

“That’s the order they died in,” Kuwabara frowned. “You know something about the killer and the victims.”

“We have to play this stupid game every generation where Gramma puts on a blindfold and we all have to hide from her while she tracks us down in order of weakest to strongest. Aya had the worst control, so she was found first.”

“And you were found last,” Yusuke finished.

“Yeah. But now I’m worried about gramma.” 

“If she was the one who tracked you guys the first time, do you think she’d be able to do it again?” Kuwabara asked. He tried to make it sound as innocent as possible. Nobody wanted to hear that their beloved family was a serial killer. 

“I’m sure she could, but she hated the ceremony and most of the family got upset that she was taking part. I never found out why though.”

“It might be time to ask.”

~

Tatsuki stared out the window of the train as they rode to the Himura family home. Specifically, they were riding to the nearest depot which would put them on a bus which would then drop them off in a village several miles from the Himura family home. The ride itself had taken her from the misleading town of Karakura through farmlands and soon the dense forests where her clan had settled. If she was lucky, Tatsuki might be able to bribe a local to drive them up to the home through said forests. It had been almost a decade since she came home; her mother had been firm in wanting Tatsuki to finish school before she began training to take over the family and honestly, Tatsuki didn’t want to do it. Basing the family future and fortune on a game of hide and seek was ridiculous. Now she didn’t have an option.

“Did you know your cousins very well?” Kuwabara asked. 

Tatsuki turned back to the people travelling with her. Her teammates, she corrected herself. 

“Not really. Most of them are second or even third cousins. There was some sort of fallout when my grandmother played the game, and then when I won, the family decided she was cheating.” 

“Seems like we’ll be getting a lot of answers. Hey Kuwabara, does this place seem familiar to you?”

“Kinda, but most things outside of the city start to mush together.” 

“We’re going camping after this,” Tatsuki looked between them. “No excuses.” 

“I’ll find an excuse somewhere,” Yusuke laughed. 

“Unless she tells Koenma it’s a team building exercise,” Kuwabara grinned. “C’mon Urameshi, it might be fun to see who’s more manly!”

Tatsuki didn’t tune the boys out this time, instead she listened with half an ear as they insisted they would be more ‘manly’ than the other. Never mind Tatsuki knew she’d fare far better in the wilds than either of the two. She vaguely wondered if the other member of the team would join in or perhaps be a judge. Hiei. That was his name. She still hadn’t met him and the other two were supposedly checking out the Himura lands right now. 

“How about this,” Tatsuki broke into the argument. “After we have three group trips, we go again but we all start out with the same items in our pack.”

She’d missed this. Planning out group trips was something she’d once done with the Karate team. Learning to build a campfire and pitch a tent had been wonderful things, even if there had been hours of yelling and frustration at the start of every year. Everything would settle and the yelling would turn into bouts of laughter and the frustration would turn into good natured competition. 

At some point ghost stories would come into play and they’d play hide and seek in the woods and Tatsuki would always win. Her very latent power would perk up just enough to track down her prey or flee from the hunter. Why hadn’t it kicked in the night she’d been stabbed? What had gone wrong that she hadn’t even picked him out of the crowd until it was too late? Maybe it was the artifact he’d used or some ability of his own. She wouldn’t know until they caught him.

“Now I know this place is familiar,” Yusuke grumbled as they pulled in to the train depot. “This is the last stop before we head up to the old hag’s.”

“Maybe all old lady psychic’s live near each other,” Kuwabara suggested. 

“Gramma has a few neighbors she can’t stand,” Tatsuki laughed. “It’s possible. Look, there’s our bus.”

~

For a long minute, Yusuke had been very worried about where they’d end up. He wasn’t avoiding Genkai per se, but he didn’t want to remind her of Toguro either. After all, hadn’t he turned into a demon too? It couldn’t have been easy seeing two guys you cared about turning into the thing you used to hunt down. Thankfully the bus they boarded was heading the opposite direction as the one headed to Genkai’s; they were going to some place called Hikami village. The road wasn’t as bumpy and there were farms along the road. Hell, they were even pulling up to a village and Genkai’s temple was nowhere near civilization. Genkai hated people as a general rule, living near people was laughable. 

“Okay, you two see about a snack or something while I try to see about a ride to Gramma’s place. We might be in for a walk if nobody wants to make the drive.”

“Yeah yeah, go schmooze with the locals and we’ll try not to get run out of town.” 

Yusuke was starting to think having a girl on the team might actually be pretty useful. Yeah they had Genkai for a real fight, and Boton was decent enough at getting people to talk, but neither of them really had people skills or pop culture awareness. Kurama tended to distract people too much these days; kitsune seduction seemed to be riding higher every year. Tatsuki blended in though. He’d almost lost her at the train station when she dialed back the street fighter attitude and Kuwabara had barely found her. It seemed like her energy pulled in tighter the further she got from people she knew. The guy they were hunting down must have been stalking her for a while before he acted. Learning her patterns and figuring out the best time to strike just as he had with all the others. 

“Does she like sweet stuff?” Kuwabara asked from the drinks case. The small shop they were in catered to motorists and campers and for once Yusuke didn’t feel the shopkeeper’s eyes following him around. 

“I think so, I seem to remember her always having something sugary.”

He knew so. There was no thinking about it because throughout their childhood she’d always had candy and every festival she’d always had a tray of dango. 

“See if there’s something apple-y flavored.” 

Yusuke grabbed a few granola bars and some chips and was once again thrown by the near friendliness of the shopkeeper when he went to pay. The old man even suggested various campgrounds and asked where their gear was. 

“We’re actually visiting a friend’s grandmother,” Yusuke told him. Maybe if their killer came through the old guy would gossip or mention going to see the old woman too. “We’re heading to the old Himura place.”

“Oof, gird your loins boy-o. Especially if your friend is the pretty girl waiting outside. In all my years I’ve never met a man who went up there and didn’t come back shakin’ like a leaf.” The man eyed Kuwabara. “Course, if your tastes run the other way you might be safe enough.”

“He’s a little tall for me,” Yusuke joked back. “I’ll keep your advice in mind about the Himuras though. See ya around old timer.” 

“Two days,” the old man chuckled. 

~

Tatsuki climbed into the back of the village mechanic’s truck with a sense of déjà vu. She and her mother had climbed into this same truck every time they’d come to visit and the man who owned it had recognized her as a Himura before she got more than a few words out. She looked like her mother he claimed. Wasn’t that a lie and a half. Either way, she and the boys were in the back of the truck and with every mile closer the two of them seemed to be getting increasingly nervous. Especially when they passed the tori gates leading to the family shrine and the old brown truck went up a nearly hidden side road.

“Say, Tatsuki,” Kuwabara began. “What’s your grandmother’s name?”

“What?” Tatsuki leaned forward. The sound of the engine and the wind in her hair distracted her as they moved closer to the place she held so tightly in her heart. 

“Your grandmother,” Kuwabara called louder. 

“What about her?”

“What’s her name?” 

Tatsuki didn’t have to answer. The mechanic was pulling up to a little blue volkswagon and her grandmother was standing in front of it waiting. Tatsuki’s mother Hisoka was with her, sitting on the hood with crossed legs and a smile. 

“Grandmother,” Tatsuki hopped out of the truck and bowed. 

"When it rains it pours,” the elderly woman snorted before raising her arms. Tatsuki hurried to hug her. Even with the madness of the world and the unknown killer biting at her heels, the scent of her grandmother’s clothes and the sound of her voice was a comfort. Her grandmother pulled away first though she didn’t release Tatsuki’s hands as she looked her up and down. “First Hisoka comes up to check the well, then you come along and bring these two dimwits with.”

“Hey master Genkai,” Kuwabara greeted as he climbed out from the truck bed. 

“How’s it goin grandma?”

Tatsuki looked back and forth between her teammates and her grandmother. 

“When you decided to follow your studies rather than train I was forced to find a new student to pass my power along to,” Genkai began walking up the driveway towards the house. Tatsuki’s mother hopped off the hood of the car with a wink and soon they were all following along and listening to Genkai’s tale. Yusuke had taken her place while Tatsuki studied for the pre-med classes at Karakura and when Tatsuki had been in the hospital for having her soul drained by Yammy, gramma had been fighting a life or death battle with grampa. 

“Did you get accepted into your program?” Genkai looked over. 

“I did, I missed the deadline but Dr. Ishida delayed his review of the submissions until I was released from the hospital.”

“The hospital he runs,” Hisoka mentioned. “He didn’t clear you for release until you finished your paper either.”

“Either you have talent or he wants in your pants.” The way Genkai spoke was so matter of fact that Tatsuki could feel her brain stop. Her feet certainly did. Yusuke’s did not and for a brief second she felt herself beginning to fall as he crashed into her. 

“What the hell did you stop for?” Yusuke asked from beneath her. Tatsuki was certain he was going to land on top of her, so he must have done something to switch their places instead. The vague memory of being in his arms a few nights ago flickered in and out between her mother’s laughter and Kuwabara’s shouts.

“It’s nice I can still take you down but why were you so close?” Tatsuki pushed herself up and off. Getting lost in someone’s eyes was not how she wanted the day to go, even if they were downright hypnotic. “I don’t need you up my ass, the killer isn’t even here.”

There was an odd silence from Genkai and Hisoka that made Tatsuki face them fully instead of continuing her argument. 

“Is he?”

“We don’t know.”

~

Hisoka hadn’t come back to Karakura because her duties as the acting miko of Himura shrine meant she was trapped until she finished the funerary rites for the twelve other girls who’d died. The ashes of Tatsuki’s cousins were resting in the large shrine where Yusuke had fought in the darkness to win Genkai’s favor. By the end of the month, they would each be returned to their families or put to rest some place in the Himura shrine. Each of the three teens was exceptionally thankful that they were going to sit in the house rather than pass in front of the foreboding building.

“I thought with all the psychics in Karakura and then with Yusuke on the trail that you might be safe.” Hisoka poured tea for them as she spoke but Yusuke saw the woman who used to give him juice and cookies. She’d aged, just like he had, but seeing her now compared to when he was young made him look Tatsuki over again. He could almost see the ways that her features would smooth out in Hisoka’s face, but Tatsuki’s mouth set the same way Genkai’s had when she’d been young at the Dark Tournament. It was Tatsuki’s eyes that didn’t match either of them, and even though the frown was the same, her smile seemed- 

“I have a theory,” Tatsuki spoke up. Her voice was different than theirs too. In her youth, Genkai’s voice had been soft and Hisoka’s was still filled with laughter, but Tatsuki made you pay attention. “The deaths happened in the order gramma caught us during the last family reunion. This is a fact, and at first I thought maybe it was someone upset that their daughter wasn’t chosen, but why target all of us?” 

“Tatsuki said something about the family bitching about something you did Genkai,” Yusuke added on. “I don’t usually pry but I need to know who I’m hunting and if he’s going to hit another shrine family when he’s done here.” 

Genkai grumbled about nosy students and unpredictable granddaughters before answering. 

“Simply put, I don’t have tennyo powers. I trained on my own from day one and every bit of energy I wielded was mine. The Himura clan credits it’s prestige and power to our tennyo blood but I was the only daughter born to my generation.”

“So they think you lied about Tatsuki’s abilities to keep your station as head of the clan,” Yusuke summarized. 

“I can barely figure out how many people are in a room,” Tatsuki shook her head. “The whole idea sounds like bullshit.”

“When you were in diapers I was spending most of my time shielding everyone else from your energy,” Genkai snorted. “Once you threw a tantrum and I had to maintain a barrier around the nursery until you fell asleep.”

“So what happened?” Kuwabara asked around a rice cracker. Something must have happened to turn Tatsuki from a terrifying psychic toddler into the intimidating teen she was now. 

“Shortly before the ceremony, you were found in the old well house talking to yourself. After you were found, it was as though your seikouki never existed.”

“In the old well house,” Tatsuki frowned. “I think you need to tell me what the hell is going on. I’ve been living in a daze every time something remotely supernatural happens and I’m sick of it.”

Once upon a time, an old priest found an injured woman in the forest. Marked by the god Tsukiyomi, the priest knew it was his duty to see her returned to health and to her home amongst the amatsukami, for she was tennyo and to reject her would surely plague the land. The tennyo soon returned to health, but as she gazed upon the ailing priest, she knew within her heart that she could not leave him upon the mountain to pass alone in the night and chose to remain at his side until she was able to carry him to the side of Tsukiyomi. 

As the kind tennyo set about to carrying out the old man’s duty, a bandit come to the mountain to atone for his wrongs and pass into the next life without sin. As he entered the temple, he was so taken by the tennyo’s grace and beauty that in that instant he made her his wife.

“She killed him immediately after and dumped his body down the moon well,” Genkai finished Hisoka’s tale. “The story is cleaned up for children, but the truth is somewhat more violent. The bandit was a low level demon who was able to force himself upon the tennyo in her weakened state.”

“He deserved worse.” Tatsuki had poured herself a second cup of tea.

“She also bound his soul to the well,” Genkai took a sip of her tea. “When she gave birth to their daughter, she used her lifeblood to reinforce the seal, then their daughter used her daughter, and so on until it was my turn.”

“Tennyo seikouki only came back in my generation,” Hisoka admitted. “And none of us were strong enough to carry out the ceremony.”

“So why hide it? Why not tell me all of this?”

“When your soul was harmed by the being in the well house, we assumed that your reiki might never return,” Hisoka admitted. “It seemed kinder to keep it a secret, but I’d hoped moving to Karakura might kickstart your reservoirs into working once more.” 

Kuwabara sat back and began to watch the people around the table. His best friend’s brain was trying to keep up and figure out what was going on while Genkai was talking about an intensive training regime to get Tatsuki’s soul back on track before the binding ceremony. 

“Wait, I thought your soul was acting funny every since he stabbed you with that weird knife,” Kuwabara interrupted. “That’s what the cute girl at the hospital said after she healed you.”

“Orihime said Tatsuki’s power was snapping at her,” Yusuke argued. “Tatsuki’s the one who said the knife wound messed with her.”

“I never said it was messing with me,” Tatsuki snorted in response.

Well now everything was going sideways all over again as Tatsuki and Yusuke argued and Genkai added fuel to the fire. Hisoka had tried for a moment to calm things down but neither teen listened. That left Kuwabara sitting and watching once more. He hadn’t seen Yusuke this lively since he came back from Makai. Everything about his friend seemed to sort of wilt the longer he spent in the human world but something had changed the night they saved Tatsuki. It had been a battle to get him to release her to Hiei; he was the only one fast enough to get her to the hospital on time. Whatever had changed was something that had Hiei staying away and Kurama talking to Yusuke in a way calmer voice than usual. Kuwabara was pretty sure Yusuke’s body language had changed too, but he couldn’t figure out how. 

“So is it messing with you or not?” Yusuke finally demanded.

“It feels like a giant icicle is lodged in my back right now so yeah, I guess it’s messing with me!”

“Pull your shirt up,” Genkai stood and went around the table. “I’ll do it for you if you’d like.”

Kuwabara tried to look away as Tatsuki pulled her shirt up to expose her back and the scar left behind. He saw a lot more than a stab wound left behind, including what looked like a giant demon handprint around her midsection and a trail of suction cup marks on her upper arms and leading down into her pants. There was a collection of other scars too, left behind by apparitions or some other monster that she hadn’t been able to fend off or get away from.

“This is the wound?” Genkai touched the brightest scar on her body. Tatsuki nodded in response and Genkai prodded a bit harder causing a cry of pain to erupt from the younger   
woman. A wave of energy pulsed out and it was almost like being right back on the street where Tatsuki had been stabbed. Like an orb of decay was trapped under Tatsuki’s skin.   
“Hisoka, fetch the relic box.” Genkai began to push Tatsuki down to lay on her stomach. The two boys moved back as Genkai began to read the clump of now volatile energy. “It’s possible that two generations of failed ceremonies weakened the seal enough for the bandit’s soul wake up. He likely escaped when you were found a decade ago.”

“So I did the exact opposite of what I was supposed to do?” Tatsuki’s huff of annoyance turned into a keening whimper as Genkai focused her energy.

“Don’t be foolish. After your mother and I carried out the ceremony without negative repercussions the family assumed he was long gone. The game of tag you went through was more for tradition than anything else.” 

Hisoka returned with an ominous black box and set it on the table with a deep thunk. 

“Yusuke, I need you to help me isolate the negative energy wrapped around the wound. Tatsuki, you’re going to stop trying to hide.”

“I’m right here,” Tatsuki grit out as a second pair of hands touched her. “Fuck! What the hell are you doing?”

“I haven’t done anything yet!” Yusuke countered. 

“Maybe it’s the bandit getting upset?” Kuwabara suggested.

“Shut up!” Genkai snapped, pushing Tatsuki back to the floor. Her palm rested between Tatsuki’s shoulder blades, keeping her pinned down as she and Yusuke worked. “I said what I said. Ever since that game of tag your spirit energy has been wound into a little ball, trying to hide from something or someone. Stop hiding. He already found you and he’s going to keep finding you just like everyone else has.”

~

Yusuke really needed to talk to Hiei or Kurama now. Every demonic cell in his body was growling and it took more willpower than he wanted to admit to keep from doing it out loud. Why though? His energy was pissed off at the glob of bullshit wrapped around the wound too. Every time Tatsuki made a pained sound his youki wanted to act up and throw everyone from the room, but Kuwabara’s idea that it might be some lingering part of the bandit made him focus on removing it even more. Tatsuki was his partner and he’d be damned if someone hurt her but Yusuke felt crazy with how obsessed he was over her all of a sudden.

“Lighten up!” Tatsuki grit out. Her hand shot back to grab his wrist despite the awkward angle. 

“I’m doing the best I can,” Yusuke shot back. 

“Shut up,” Genkai snapped at them both. “Focus your energy on creating a wall between Tatsuki and what we’re removing.”

That was easier said than done. Tatsuki’s energy was snapping just like Orihime said, but it didn’t seem to be attacking him like it had the redhead. Especially once he started trying to separate the residual energy from the dagger. It seemed a lot more like she’d been waiting for backup before going on the offensive. 

“Stop hiding Tatsuki,” Genkai shouted at her once more. “You’re making this harder.”

“If you let your tennyo side come out to play then we can both kick this guy’s ass.” Yusuke tried to shake the feeling of her skin on his. He tried to focus on keeping the necrotic energy from seeping deeper. Why the hell was his demon side doing this now of all times?

“Promise?” Tatsukui’s awkward hold on his wrist tightened. “I don’t need you running off to save some bimbo while I have a sword to my neck.”

“I promise,” Yusuke let himself focus on her fully. “I’m not going to leave you in danger no matter how many people need rescuing.” 

Yusuke had always wondered what it had been like for his friends to watch as Raizen took control of his body and his mazoku blood blossomed into just a fraction of it’s potential. Watching as Tatsuki let herself fully relax was as close as he was going to get. He hadn’t felt seikouki since he’d fought Sensui and this was way beyond his in terms of raw power. He heard Genkai shouting and almost as quickly as Tatsuki’s power erupted from the scar on her back, it was streamlined into a ratty looking scarf that fell from the box Hisoka had opened. The tattered fabric seemed to heal itself and spiral around the old wound, further pulling the taint out with Genkai’s aide. Yusuke was transfixed by the energy and the veritable buzz that came with Tatsuki’s grip on his wrist.

He really needed to talk to Hiei. If he’d wanted to chase everyone from the room before, now he wanted everyone off of the mountain. He wanted to keep her secret and far away from everyone but as the glow of her reiki dissipated, so did her clothes. 

“Kuwabara, out.”

“What the, you’re not staying in here either!”

No, he wasn’t. Yusuke needed to talk to Hiei now. Perhaps he should have been gentler when he grabbed Kuwabara up by the collar by Yusuke wasn’t about to let the other male leave after he did. He could vauguely hear Genkai and Hisoka soothing Tatsuki and with a half thought he told the three women he’d be right outside. What the hell was going on? 

“Hiei!” Yusuke called out into the night. His friend was never too far. “Where the hell are you?”

“What the hell is your problem man?” Kuwabara was rubbing his shoulder from where Yusuke had unintentionally tossed him. 

“That’s what I’m trying to find out,” Yusuke growled before calling out to the fire demon once more. 

~!~

~

So, The West Coast is on fire. That's where I live. Wear your masks, SSDGM, and leave a review ^_^


	3. Chapter 3

They were fighting again. This time over dinner. 

They’d been fighting for months over stupid shit like dinner, paint, income, education, everything that you could disagree over had come up in a fight at one point or other. While Keiko was finishing High School, he’d been able to brush it off as stress over exams, hell they’d both used that excuse. Then she’d gotten into college and Yusuke had stepped in to help out at the ramen shop. Everything seemed fine until Keiko decided he needed a real job so they could move into a better apartment. A better apartment? What the hell was wrong with this one? Since his mom went off to live with her newest boyfriend, the apartment had gone to Yusuke and sure it had needed repairs after Sensui blasted a hole in it, but it was a two bedroom place in the middle of the city. It was close to her school, close to the ramen shop, and close to the subway; Kurama had looked into it for him and the apartments surrounding them were going for twice as much as they paid. He paid. He went grocery shopping because she was busy with school, he made sure the utilities were handled, he even cleaned. 

“It’s vegetables Yusuke, they’re not going to kill you!” The only thing he didn’t do was cook and somehow in the five minutes between him buying groceries and her going to ‘clear her head’ in the kitchen, half the food he bought was thrown away. And she complained about money. 

“It’s all we’ve been eating for a month Keiko,” he tried. “I’m a demon, I need meat.”

“Well meat is expensive and you don’t exactly have a great job.” 

“I’m a prince!” Yusuke took a deep breath and tried again. “Money isn’t an issue, I keep telling you that.”

“So you’re just going to keep being lazy sitting around at home, or training on a mountain, and eating meat?” Yusuke watched as Keiko got up from the table and walked from the room. 

It always turned into the same argument, every week for the last nine months. Like some kind of fucked up clock that went off to remind him he’d never be human again. She kept reminding him that he wasn’t enough, that more and more parts of him were the wrong fit for the life she wanted. No matter which parts he carved off of himself or tried to paint over, it was always wrong. 

Yusuke looked up when Keiko came back from the bedroom with a suitcase in hand and her purse over her shoulder. It didn’t surprise him. The only thing that was unexpected was how long it took.

“I don’t know if I can keep doing this. You’re so different, and I keep trying to go back to how we were and it’s just not working. I’m going to stay with my dad.”

~

A week passed. Then a month. Then Yusuke was tracking down a serial killer and hunting something the way his demon blood demanded. He was running around with his friends on a case big enough that Koenma called in a favor from Hiei to help out. He was holding his first crush in his arms while she bled out and guarding her hospital room like a dragon. Nothing ever built up slowly for Yusuke. It was always zero to sixty and this time there was a damsel in distress

“What the hell is going on Hiei?” Yusuke called out into the darkness again. 

He knew Hiei was around here somewhere so why the hell was he playing hard to get? Fine. Deep breath, calm down, try again. Yusuke focused on finding the fire demon’s energy and nearly growled at how close he was to the door that led back to Tatsuki. Shit! Focus on what was important. Tatsuki was the focus right now and finding her attempted killer was more important than Yusuke’s bullshit. 

“Hiei, I need to know if you spotted that creep’s energy when it flew by. Can you get the hell over here?”

A flicker of movement and Hiei was standing across the yard, well away from Yusuke and the house. The bastard was even giving him a knowing smirk with his arms crossed. A person might even say it was on the edge of a grin.

“If you shout any louder you’re going to wake the victim.” Hiei’s voice even sounded amused.

“Tatsuki’s not a victim. She’s a survivor.”

“Hn.” Hiei’s smile was gone and his figure straightened up as they veered back onto the case. “To answer your question, yes, I spotted the tainted energy flying back towards Karakura.”

“Think you could track it down?”

“Much as it pains me to say, no. I could hardly even tell the difference between it and a regular human ghost.”

“The hell is this guy?” Yusuke grumbled to himself. “So how about an answer to my first question?”

“You’d have to ask another mazoku,” Hiei smirked. “There’s tales of tennyo bewitching demons and humans alike before breeding but something tells me she isn’t the one thinking about-”

“Do you know or not?” Yusuke cut him off. There was a slow rage bubbling up inside of him at the very idea of Hiei imagining Tatsuki would just trap any random male because she wanted to get laid. “I’m serious Hiei. Why the hell do I feel like ripping the head off of every guy who gets within a hundred yards? I don’t feel like losing control in the middle of a fight.” It had happened twice already, once when Raizen took control of his body and the second time when he was roaming Makai. It took four of his old man’s buddies to pin him down until he came back to his senses. He didn’t want to end up hurting Tatsuki or anyone else if he lost control again over some stupid instinct.

“You’ll need to talk to another mazoku for the details, but I wouldn’t worry about hurting anyone who wasn’t your enemy.” 

~!~

Tatsuki lay on a futon breathing heavily after what had happened only a short while ago. She was spending far more time in a sick bed than she’d like. Twice in three days! Although this time it was more of a healing than an injury which put her there. Her mother had been coming in to check on her every few hours and Gramma was coming by almost as often to settle her energies. She wasn’t sure where Yusuke was on the compound, but Tatsuki could feel him nearby. That sense of molasses had been melting away until it tasted more like...Tatsuki pushed herself to sit up. The futon smelled like him. Not in a bad way, the opposite actually, but thinking about honey sweets and demon prince’s was making it harder to focus her energy. She hadn’t had a crush on someone in years and any sort of desire she felt always ended up getting stomped out. Her brain was probably just playing tricks on her by plugging various hormones into the savior that was Yusuke Urameshi. He was strong, smelled good, he was upfront about everything she asked and after three years of all the bullshit she’d gone through, it was just about everything she’d ever wanted. 

The faint sound of Yusuke arguing with someone came from above her. He was up on the roof then. Good, that would give her some time to get her shit together instead of turning into some simpering schoolgirl when she saw him again. The door slid open and Tatsuki’s gramma walked in; there was nothing more sobering than the look on her grandmother’s face. The elder set a change of clothes on the floor next to Tatsuki before speaking up.

“I'm glad to see you’re awake. I don’t know that I could handle another loss so late in my life.” Genkai didn’t take a seat; her features hardened to hide the rush of fear and frustration pouring out of her soul; Tatsuki couldn’t remember reading people’s emotions before last night. “While your power was hibernating it nearly tripled and your lack of training makes you dangerous enough that Reikai is debating a hit squad.”

“Then I’ll train.” It was a simple enough answer that did quite a bit to Genkai’s spirit and Tatsuki smiled up at her. “One way or the other I’d have come up to learn, right? Mom was talking about coming here for the summer anyway, so even with pre-med, I’d have been here to train.”

“Then get dressed and meet me in the yard.”

Tatsuki reached for a pile of clothing after Genkai left the room. The flutter of the Hagoromo around her wrist reminded her of how inhuman she suddenly was. When she was a little girl, Tatsuki had been obsessed with the legend of their family and the contents of the Relic Box because inside was the only thing left of her fabled ancestor. The Hagoromo was a sacred robe said to burn up any man or woman who touched it, even if they had tennyo blood and powerful reiki. Tatsuki had daydreamed that somehow, some way, it would choose her and she’d become a powerful psychic and fighter who would restore their family to glory. It had chosen her in the end, sort of, and she was very powerful, but she didn’t understand why. 

The Himura house was silent as Tatsuki walked down the hall and out to the yard. From there, she could hear her mother chanting prayers in the temple as Kuwabara joked with someone Tatsuki couldn’t see. She could hear Yusuke arguing on the roof, louder and clearer now than he was before. She still hadn’t met Hiei, but she knew he was in the area by the prickly feel of his energy on her skin; she was wrong about him before, it wasn’t needles inside of a balloon, he was something more akin to a hedgehog. Tatsuki wondered if it was the release of her energy or the addition of the hagoromo that sent everything into HD. Maybe both. Maybe they were one and the same and Tatsuki was overthinking everything like she always did. She was overthinking the change in herself just as much as she was over thinking the behavior she saw in Yusuke. She’d never met a demon before him, for all she knew his friends were the same way. Except for the hedgehog. Standoffish was probably the mildest way she could describe him. 

Tatsuki pushed the door of the dojo open and stepped inside. She’d been dicking around and avoiding her clan duties long enough. It was time to buckle down. 

~

Yusuke should have known Hokushin wouldn’t be much more use than Hiei. The Mazoku tribe from which Raizen hailed from was elusive and rarely interacted with anyone in the demon world. Yusuke could recall meeting one of his ‘uncles’ a single time during his three year stint in Makai and he hadn’t learned much about their people. So here he was, sitting on the roof and arguing with his second in command while Tatsuki went through Genkai’s tender training regime. His skin bristled at the idea of Tatsuki dealing with that shit even though his brain knew she needed it. Training would mean she was strong enough to hold her own against the bullshit that he had to deal with on the regular, like assassins and vengeful ancient beings. He wasn’t going to leave her to deal with it by herself, but it made things a helluva lot easier if she could watch his back or take out the small fries while he dealt with the big guys.

“If your Saiai is in danger in the human world then the safest place she could be is here in the citadel your highness,” Hokushin tried once more. “Even with your claim on her, this yurei seems fixated on attacking.”

“I told you, we haven’t done anything and she’s not my girlfriend,” Yusuke cut him off. “And even if she was, I’m not just going to throw a bunch of demon marriage rituals at her the morning after she turned into a tennyo to keep some asshole from attacking.”

“There are no rituals involved,” Hokushin laughed from the other side of the communication device. “Claiming your Saiai is as simple as the act itself. I suspect that is why Lord Raizen fled the human world rather than give in to his instincts to stay beside his Saiai. Though I am not of your species and cannot truly say what would happen.”

“You keep saying it like it’s a fact,” Yusuke jumped over to sit on the roof of the dojo. The energy inside was whipping around almost worse than his had four years ago. “Hiei said tennyo bewitch men sometimes, could this weird shit be her subconscious?”

“If she’d bewitched you there would be body parts missing,” Hokushin chuckled. 

“From breeding?” Yusuke nearly dropped the communicator in shock. If Hiei’s insinuation made him enraged, this one made his blood run cold. He didn’t want to wake up one morning missing his little demon because Tatsuki wanted a baby!

“I can’t say I’ve met many tennyo, but the few I’ve met only bewitched human men in order to feed.” Now Hokushin was laughing outright as Yusuke’s brain caught up and started playing entirely new domestic scenes in his head. “Youkai and Tennyo have a good deal in common with regards to diet and instincts. The difference is which side of the barrier they ended up on.”

“I don’t suppose you can tell me if she’s going to snap and start using the mall as a buffet?”

“Unfortunately not, but I wouldn’t worry over much about any sudden urges towards the young lady. I shall see to it that your quarters are refurbished to accommodate you both.” 

Hokushin ended the call and Yusuke snapped the communicator shut in frustration. He wasn’t any closer to an answer than before except now his entire realm seemed to think he had a girlfriend. Which wasn’t too different than before but this time they were going out of their way to make sure there was space for Tatsuki. Hokushin and the others didn’t really seem to give a shit when he was with Keiko. Maybe it was the difference in species or power. Tatsuki awaking as a tennyo (possibly a cannibal) was a little different than your basic human woman. 

“Hey Hiei, is it cannibalism if Tatsuki eats a human?”

The petite fire demon glanced at Yusuke from the corner of his eye. 

“At the rate she’s been evolving into her tennyo form I doubt there will be anything human left of her by the end of the week.”

“So that’s a No?” 

“No. She would not be considered a cannibal.”

Yusuke kept his senses on the dojo and the ripples of Genkai’s energy combined with Tatsuki’s. She was doing pretty good all things considered. Then again, while Yusuke had been fighting on the streets, she’d been in a real dojo learning to focus and keep control. Not to mention Ichigo’s dumb ass getting her dragged into war after war. How the hell did Reikai have the balls to come after him when they were dealing with a bunch of civil wars? Scratch that, they weren’t dealing with them at all! They left his best friend to solve it for them while his...his…

“Calm down.”

Hiei’s voice echoed from across the yard. At some point in his rage, Yusuke had moved to stand on top of the dojo and was focusing his gaze in the direction of Karakura. Shit. His markings had even started to show. 

“This case is getting under my skin,” Yusuke sat down on the roof. “Every single bit of it.”

“Are you really complaining? For the first time since I’ve known you, you’re looking at a female with more than resignation.” Hiei glanced away. “I don’t hate this one.” 

Then he was gone. 

Dating Tatsuki wouldn’t be bad if he thought about it. Maybe. He spent three years away from Keiko and it turned to shit so who was to say a decade away from Tatsuki wouldn’t be hell frozen over? Or, wait, if hell was frozen over wasn’t that a good thing? Fuck it. Tatsuki was his partner regardless of the bullshit instincts that were kicking in and until this dickbrain of a ghost was dead, he was going to make sure she was safe. 

Promise?

Yeah, he promised. Yusuke leaned back on the roof and enjoyed the sunlight. Had he really been looking at Keiko as an inevitable end rather than a goal?

~!~ Several days later ~!~

Tatsuki collapsed on the dojo floor and prayed that her gramma would end it for the day. She was starving, every inch of her was bruised, and staying awake was getting harder by the second. Colors and thoughts were drifting in and out with every heartbeat but one thought was very clear: she wasn’t going to let it keep happening.

“Hey, you gotta wake up.”

Tatsuki turned away from the light coming in through the window and tried to hide deeper in the warmth. Her bed was firmer than last time, the scent of Yusuke was stronger and wrapped around her like a memory. It was also very insistent and Tatsuki sighed when she realized what was happening. It must have been a decade since they last had a sleepover and after Yusuke left it just wasn’t the same. Ichigo twitched in his sleep too much and Tatsuki always ended up sleeping with the twins or on the couch. When Yusuke had still been with them, he made a buffer and helped her steal the covers. That’s how it had always been. Yusuke and Tatsuki teaming up to do all sorts of things.

“I’m awake. Shut up.”

“If you’re awake then you need to get up.”

“No. I don’t.”

“Then let me get up.”

“No, you’re blocking the sun.”

“If you don’t let go, Genkai is going to kill me,” Yusuke tried to pull away. 

“Don’t be a baby.” Tatsuki tightened her hold on Yusuke’s shirt and tried to ignore the feel of his skin against her cheek. “You could survive it.”

“Well then let me get up so I can take a piss,” Yusuke tried to get up again. “Besides, we miss breakfast and she’s not going to let either of us eat until tomorrow.”

Tatsuki grumbled and pushed herself to sit up, groaning in pain as she moved. Yusuke helped her to stand before making a beeline towards the bathroom. Well, maybe she could have gotten up sooner but frankly, he was really warm and her muscles were really enjoying it. And a somewhat more hormonal part enjoyed it too; She was going through a genetic reset but she wasn’t dead. Actually, it might be interesting to see if here genetic code had changed with the massive influx of celestial power. Or if pain killers would work differently. Or any medication like-

“Shit,” Tatsuki hissed as she shuffled down the hall to the dining room. Her birth control had probably quit on her. “I’m going to wake up with acne and cramps before the week is finished.”

“Good morning!” Hisoka chirped from her place at the table. “You certainly slept in.”

“I’ve been training for over a week and almost every night I’ve had nightmares. Last night was the first decent amount of sleep I’ve had since the attack.” Tatsuki sat down at the table. “I’m pretty sure both of you could have attacked and I would have slept through it.”

“Is that why Yusuke was trapped beneath you all night?” Genkai frowned. “You don’t have time to get lost in some idiot’s eyes.”

“Gramma,” Tatuski cried out around a mouthful of rice. “It’s not like that. Even if it was, I’ve been at death’s door enough times in the last three years to know when to buckle down.”

“It’s not like that but you spent the night in his arms. I’ve been down that road before Tatsuki. It doesn’t end well.”

“Can we just have breakfast so you can go back to beating my ass into the ground?”

Tatsuki could hear the censure in her gramma’s gaze as they ate. It only grew when Yusuke came in and served himself, either oblivious or uncaring about the conversation he’d walked into. Breakfast was going to be awkward until Yusuke went out on assignment while she stayed here and trained. Possibly longer. She didn’t want to deal with the constant questions and talks and lectures about boys versus training. She was a teenager but she wasn’t a complete idiot. 

“I asked someone to bring your training gear up,” Hisoka chirped from where she sat at the table. “I know you like your gi but I also know you need more support than mother’s old robes.”

“You’re a bit taller than me,” Genkai joked causing Yusuke to snort. “Those are supposed to be pants, not shorts.”

“They reach below my knees,” Tatsuki grinned. “Who’s bringing it up?”

“Don’t be mad,” Hisoka raised a hand. 

“No, you didn’t,” Tatsuki sighed and set her rice down. “Mother, why?”

“Because they’re blowing up my phone trying to find out where you are and if you’re okay,” Hisoka frowned. “I know things have been strange, but you can’t be mad at them for keeping secrets when mother and I have been too. Hell, we’ve been keeping you in the dark a lot longer than they have.”

“That’s not fair,” Tatsuki stared down at her breakfast.

“No. It’s not. So stop trying to punish them for something they couldn’t control. Besides, with one ancestor on the loose, it might help to have some backup in case the other one decides to pop up too.”

Tatsuki didn’t even want to think about such a horrible event. She didn’t want to face Ichigo or Orihime either. She was supposed to be training today, and every day until they finally caught the man who’d stabbed her. Training meant clearing her mind, not reliving heartaches and crying and playing imagined scenarios over in her head until she was sick from it. Scenarios that were progressively getting more intricate with Yusuke being so close. She’d been fine before she came to breakfast, everything was warmth and comfort and far away from the fear and anxiety of rejection and now she could hardly stomach the few bites she’d taken. 

“You know,” Yusuke’s thoughtful voice broke through the whirlpool of thoughts. “I haven’t had a fight with ol’ berry boy in a while. Might be fun to go toe to toe with him.” Yusuke was grinning at the thought and whiskey colored eyes turned to face her. “I suppose I’ll have to hold back some, but my fist might just slip if he says something shitty.”

“It always has,” Tatsuki let out a strained laugh. 

“Get your ass in the dojo and I’ll stall them until you’re on break,” Yusuke stood upright. He snatched her toast before walking out the door with a promise to avoid breaking anyone’s nose.

The pending arrival of the others did not release Tatsuki from training, nor did the pending meltdown. If anything her nerves made Genkai even more unpredictable and forced her to pay attention to fists over fears. It wasn’t Yusuke who’d distracted Tatsuki yesterday or even the day before and while her gramma didn’t completely believe it, Genkai had started to realize he wasn’t as big a threat as previously thought. 

~

Yusuke felt the other’s coming up the hill before Tatsuki did. She was so deep into her training that she hadn’t even noticed when he peeked in. He’d have to peek in more often. Or less. Probably less with the way he reacted to seeing her stripped down to a bra and glistening with sweat, breathing hard as her skin glowed and fire burned behind her eyes. He could smell her from across the room and his mouth had watered for a taste of her lips, her pulse, the delicate skin behind her ear. Damn good thing he picked up on Ichigo. The rage of his instincts kicked on and refocused him. Yusuke still had enough sense left in his brain to realize he was being defensive of the young woman in the dojo. His need to drive off potential threats and rivals was the thing that forced him away from Tatsuki and over to the steps. He needed to talk to Kurama and get a straight answer instead of this roundabout Hiei and Hokushin were giving him. 

The summer breeze drifted up the long steps, carrying with it the scent of humid earth and four distinct humans. Almost. Ichigo smelled Other, just like Tatsuki had for about a day. It was the scent of cool earth and the ever looming scent of death. An inescapable companion for Yusuke these days. He could see copper hair through the leaves, two different heads at different heights, and following along were two brunettes. Males. Yusuke exhaled slowly and focused on lowering his hackles. Tatsuki wasn’t his and he couldn’t get pissed off at some other guys when Yusuke was the one who hadn’t...hadn’t...hell. Now he was thinking about claiming her and he was right back to last night’s memory of her skin and the weight of her body atop his. He really should have left the room last night but he’d been lured in by Tatsuki’s scent and kept there by soft little gasps as she slept. So he stayed, guarding her from the dreams that had been plaguing her since the night she’d come back from death.

Just like this morning when they were thrown right back into childhood. Tatsuki would get stuck in her head and he’d play guard dog until she came back. Sometimes that meant sitting there until she was better, other times it meant finding whoever upset her and picking a fight. 

“Hey asshole!” Ichigo called up the steps when he was close enough. “What’s with the tattoos?”

“They’re part of the package,” Yusuke cracked his knuckles. Ichigo might not have intended to upset her, but it was the principal of the thing. His partner was upset. “I know you didn’t live this long as a human.” 

Ichigo slowed his steps and frowned. 

“Well? What are you waiting for? A hand written invitation? Let’s go!”

~

Orihime watched as the two men fought hand to hand across the land they’d come to. They both moved so fast! She could hardly keep up with them but every time they faded from sight and Orihime tried to climb the stairs, the fight came back and prevented anyone from going further up the steps. Yusuke reminded her of a dragon, he had ever since the hospital when he practically growled at anyone who went into Tatsuki’s room. Now he was keeping them even further away but Orihime couldn’t figure out why. She had an idea of course, but her ideas rarely matched up with reality and Tatsuki didn’t seem like the kind of person who enraptured people. 

Although, isn’t that what happened when she saved Orihime from the bullies so long ago? Didn’t she draw everyone’s eyes when she walked into the classroom? Tatsuki deserved to get attention from a boy after everything she’d had to deal with! Not the one who stabbed her though. That was the wrong kind of attention but a boy like Yusuke might be okay. Orihime had Ichigo in all of his quiet thoughtfulness and gentle support. A girl with such a fierce nature needed someone as blunt and protective as Yusuke. 

“Can we go see Tatsuki now?” Orihime piped up when they paused at the top of the steps. “I sort of need the bathroom too.”

Yusuke looked over before sighing. 

“She’s training so you’ll have to wait in the big house with her mom until she’s done. It’s the building to the left, Hisoka’s probably sitting on the porch.”

In a flicker he was gone. 

“Tatsuki’s in a mood,” Ichigo grumbled as he walked back into his body. He stood up again hardly a moment later and resumed climbing the stairs. “He always gets aggressive when she’s in a mood.” 

“Hasn’t it been years since you were all three together?” Orihime asked. After everything they’d all been through, and now one of them was a demon prince, surely something must have changed. 

“Yeah, and they’ve gone right back to how they were,” Ichigo snorted. “Don’t get me wrong, it was always fun sparring with Yusuke, but not when Tatsuki was upset over something.”

“I thought Tatsuki was your oldest friend.” Ishida’s timbre spoke up for the first time since they started up the stairs. “You’re talking as though you were an outsider between the two.”

“Nah, we just had our own kind of dynamic. I actually thought they’d get married when we were little.” Ichigo laughed before speaking up again. “I think they still might.”

They broke free from the trees surrounding the Himura family home and it was easy to see Yusuke standing on top of the dojo where Tatsuki was training. Mrs. Arisawa was sitting on the porch sipping tea, just like Yusuke had said, and greeted them with a smile before telling Orihime exactly where the bathroom was. She always seemed to know what people needed when they came to visit. 

When she returned from the bathroom, she saw two new faces sitting for tea. One was a rather rough looking young man sitting to Hisoka’s left and beside him was a blue haired woman. She didn’t feel human. Perhaps she was a demon like Yusuke? Her energy nearly matched, and she wasn’t a hollow or shinigami and she was very far from human. 

“Sorry,” Orihime bowed before sitting down. “It was a really long train ride.”

“Yeah, usually Urameshi and I have to ride up from Sarayashiki, the ride’s almost twice as long.”

Orihime listened as they made conversation, asking a question here or there as her friends learned about youkai and what had happened to Tatsuki. 

~

Tatsuki exhaled slowly within the dojo’s confines. She hadn’t made it through training. She’d been distracted and lost her footing, allowing her gramma to land a punishing blow to her ribs. 

“You can’t let this sort of thing distract you in a real fight Tatsuki,” Genkai knelt beside her and focused on healing the battered ribs. Now that should could truly feel the energy of the people around her, she had to focus on allowing the very human energy into her system. She wanted to lash out at it and strike the energy away from her. This wasn’t the rotting soul of their ancestor though. This was good and helpful. It wasn’t greedy and violent. 

“I wasn’t expecting to get such a fucked up bombshell at breakfast,” Tatsuki wheezed. She could feel one of her ribs grinding against itself. “I don’t want to forgive them.”

“Then don’t. Be angry at them for all eternity and let your soul become corrupted.” That was why Tatsuki had always loved spending time with her grandmother. She was blunt and for all she didn’t care, she worded every sentence in a way that showed she truly did. “It doesn’t matter if you forgive them or not, right now you need them on your side to hunt down a vengeful spirit. There’s no one better at that than the Gotei.”

“You said you’ve been down that road earlier. What did you mean?” Tatsuki grunted as she felt her rip pop back into place. That was an odd feeling. 

“Your grandfather.” Her gramma sat up and old eyes drifted closed. “Just before I found out I was pregnant he made a stupid wish and became a demon. It destroyed our marriage, our home, and even though I knew I lost him that day at the tournament some foolish part of me hoped he’d stick around for her or come back for you.” 

“That’s why you said he died.”

“In a way he did. He was truly put to rest almost four years ago by Yusuke’s hand.” Genkai opened one eye to gauge Tatsuki’s reaction and a small smile fluttered across her lips. “Togoro had killed me the day before their match so I wasn’t privy to the details.”

He’d killed her grandfather. A man she didn’t know, had thought to be dead her entire life, and had killed the second most valuable woman in Tatsuki’s life. She couldn’t muster any sort of feeling about it save the anguish that her companion had been forced to take a life and the heartache that she’d almost lost her grandmother while studying medicine. 

“Don’t feel bad,” Genkai broke into her thoughts. “I made arrangements to haunt you afterwards but the dimwit made a wish to bring me back to life.”

“Does that mean you’re still going to haunt me later on?” Tatsuki frowned.

“I haven’t decided yet. It depends on how many more stupid choices you decide to make.”

They rose to exit together, Tatsuki pausing long enough to grab her shirt before they left the building. She didn’t have to forgive them but she had to make peace. Ichigo and Orihime were bordering on immortal soon and Tatsuki had no idea how long tennyo lived. Perhaps as long as a demon, but she didn’t have anyone to ask about her new state of being and there were even fewer people around how could tell her about the man hunting her down. Why was his soul hell bent on destroying their clan? It couldn’t solely be over the actions of her tennyo ancestor. She still didn’t know the woman’s name. 

“What, no shirt?” 

Tatsuki looked over to see Yusuke landing beside her. 

“It’s too hot,” she waved him away. “Besides, they’ve seen me in my bathing suit and this covers way more.” 

Maybe that was the wrong thing to say. The odd blue tinted marking on his skin were growing in vibrancy and Tatsuki was almost certain his hair was starting to grow out. He had clenched his jaw and his fists, frowning deeper with every step they took to the house.

“Will you chill?” Tatsuki stopped and put a hand on his chest. “You were literally my mattress last night. That’s the closest any guy’s been without trying to kill me in the last decade.”

“If you don’t suppress your energy you’re both going to have the SDF breathing down our necks,” Genkai snapped. She continued on towards the house with grumbled complaints about teenagers and apparitions. 

“Yusuke, what is going on?” Tatsuki demanded. “There’s enough crazy shit going on in my life, I don’t need yet another overpowered psycho making shit worse. You said we were partners so tell me what the hell is happening.”

“I don’t know,” Yusuke grit out. He focused on unclenching his fists and forced himself to stare her in the eyes. “Everyone I’ve asked keeps giving me the same vague bullshit answer. Instincts or something mazoku.”

“Instincts are making you act like an ass every time there’s another guy around?” Tatsuki folded her arms and stared at him. “Like a bitch in heat or what?”

“What? No, I’m not horny for everyone.”

“No, idiot, I’m asking if that’s how they’re seeing me.” 

Tatsuki almost frowned deeper when he didn’t answer right away. She could see his mind working overtime and as a slow sort of theory began to form in his mind, she found that she wasn’t frowning at all. Yusuke, the boy she’d beat into the ground, was struggling to find an answer. She remembered White Day when they were six, they’d been sparring and she’d told him in no uncertain terms that he needed to get stronger if he ever wanted a wife. He’d been too dumb to realize she had a crush on him and she was talking about getting stronger so he could marry her. Although he’d just broken up with his fiancee too. Maybe it was the instinct to breed with any strong female warring with the guilt left behind. 

“What did Hiei and the other guy say exactly?” Tatsuki tried again. This close to the house he might not answer. She could see the faces of her schoolmates on the porch and the old Yusuke would clam up when strangers came around. Then again, maybe Tatsuki would get to know a whole new Yusuke. The idea sounded fun. 

“I’ll tell you after I call Kurama tonight. I’m going to see if Boton can find a tennyo for you to talk to, it might be a you thing.”

“Maybe I’m your soul mate,” Tatsuki teased quietly before hurrying up the steps and sitting with the others. 

~

~

~!~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lulz
> 
> This chapter took a good minute to get through, a bit more exposition and gathering of elements, next chapter they're going to try and go back to hunting the killer while Boton and Kurama step in to clear the air for the two. Different air clearing mind you, but I'm trying to pull back from dragging out the UST like I used to. 
> 
> R&R, SSDGM, and wear your dang mask!


	4. Chapter 4

Maybe I’m your Soulmate

Maybe I’m your Soul Mate

Maybe I’m yours

I’m yours

Those four little words were bouncing around in Yusuke’s head as he watched her walk away to sit for tea. What the hell was he supposed to say to that? What was he supposed to do? His brain wasn’t functioning but the rest seemed perfectly content and dare he say, relaxed at the prospect. Especially when he cut out all the other words and those two were ringing in his ears like a lullabye. The faint sound of Hiei chuckling didn’t help Yusuke feel better, but it was starting to click. Was this why Hiei and Hokushin kept saying Saiai instead of girlfriend? Beloved wasn’t really a phrase you heard in the demon world so hearing either of them say saiai had been odd, but if it was a title reserved for a demon’s mate, soul mate, then it made sense. What did demons love more than a good fight? More than power? The one thing that could make Hiei leave all of his friends behind without a second glance. 

The thing that made Yusuke’s heart beat again. He made his way up the steps and took the empty cushion beside Tatsuki feeling a bit more at ease with himself. 

“Hey!” Tatsuki tried to grab her cookie back from him. Just because he felt better didn’t mean he’d stop teasing her. If anything it gave him permission to keep being annoying. 

“They’re over there,” Yusuke leaned back and took a bite. “Yours was closer.”

She didn’t respond, merely grabbed another and continued listening to the tale they’d walked in on. Ichigo had been keeping an eye out for any strange spirits in Karakura, and he’d even let the Gotei in on what was happening. Nobody seemed to have an idea what they were looking for though. Telling a shinigami to keep an eye out for a ‘dead’ feeling spirit was about as dumb as telling someone to look for a woodsy looking forest. 

“But we’re keeping an eye on all the shrines in the area and all of the miko who work there,” Ichigo finished. 

“Hey Kuwabara, did you manage to get a hold of Boton yet?” Yusuke asked. “We still need information on Tennyo.”

“No, but we did get a hold of Kurama,” his carrot topped friend replied. “Someone tried to poison his mom. He thinks it might be to lessen the amount of protection Tatsuki has. I think whoever did it is probably mulch for Kurama’s plants by now.”

“That’s a fact,” Yusuke frowned. “You need to check in on Shizuru?”

“I actually need to go back to school on Monday,” Kuwabara scratched the back of his head. 

~

“So when do I get an invitation?” Ichigo asked lowly. 

“To what?” Tatsuki frowned. Her partner was talking to Kuwabara about keeping an eye on their hometown for a while just in case the would-be assassin was an old enemy returned instead of a weird ghost. She should have been listening in to their discussion, if only to know what might come after her as a way to get to Yusuke. That was a role she was very familiar with. 

“Also,” Tatsuki cut Ichigo off and glowered at Ishida. “Why the hell didn’t you say shit? Even I know you hate Seireitei so what the hell kept your mouth shut?”

“I don’t know you,” Ishida blinked at her. 

“So why the hell are you even here?” Tatsuki snapped. She could feel everyone watching and waiting for what would happen next. “Some sick fascination? Which one of you invited him? Or Chad, who’s been just as bad about all of this.” 

“They tagged along,” Orihime explained. “I didn’t think it would be a good idea.” 

“I figured they could help with the investigation,” Ichigo defended.

Tatsuki exhaled slowly and felt the world start to blur into noise. She stopped paying attention to what they were arguing about or who was talking. It didn’t matter. Everything they said was the same thing it always was. It was their egos and goals being placed before her yet again, it didn’t matter that they were here under the guise of ‘helping’ to hunt down her killer. Her mother had called someone and suddenly her life wasn’t hers. Last night she’d felt like herself. She’d been training with her gramma and laughing over dumb jokes the boys told. Her mother was explaining more about the fascinating new world she was in and Yukina was telling her embarrassing stories about the detectives. She’d felt normal. 

Something bumped her thigh and she looked down to see the screen of Orihime’s phone looking up at her with a simple message. 

I told him I’d be fine coming here alone.

Tatsuki bit her lip before picking the device up and replying. Why was it so hard to communicate? Just getting words out was something she wasn’t ready for. 

Why’d he bring them?

I don’t know. He said ‘just in case’ but wouldn’t say more.

A chunk of rice cracker was flicked over at them from where Yusuke sat. He was still arguing with the other boys but a sideways glance showed that he was paying attention to Orihime and Tatsuki. 

“Obviously I knocked something loose when I hit you,” Yusuke leaned forward with a scowl. “I think I need to smack it back into place.”

“You said to keep an eye out and I trust these guys,” Ichigo countered. 

“If they’re here, who’s watching Karakura?” Tatsuki asked. Orihime’s confession of ‘just in case’ made her more than a little wary and his excuse was starting to fray. 

“I’ll stay here,” Orihime spoke up. “The bakery caught fire a few days ago so I have the freedom and I could use the extra time to train. Plus, I have a barrier I can set up if things get nasty.” 

“Then we-“

“No,” Orihime cut her boyfriend off. “I’m staying here. You’re going to watch for anything weird back home. Yuzu was starting to exhibit healing energies, right? And isn’t there a nurse at the hospital who has them as well? Tatsuki and I can even share a room!”

For some reason that made Tatsuki vaguely annoyed. Not because the redhead was taking the bold step of staying here or speaking against her own team, but because it meant Yusuke would no longer be her pillow.

“That’s an excellent idea,” Genkai set her cup down. “Ichigo and his clowns will return to Karakura, Kuwabara will attend his classes, and the girls will begin training together.”

“But-“

“End of discussion,” Genkai snapped. “Girls, get changed and get to the dojo. The rest of you, get out.”

~

Ichigo sat on the steps leading up to them temple. He knew he was supposed to be leaving but with everything he’d seen and the sparring match when he arrived, he had a few questions for Yusuke. Just the two of them talking about the two women in the dojo. Well, four. Chad and Ishida were reluctant to leave after the fight and the latter kept insisting that they’re taken Orihime as a hostage. He couldn’t exactly explain that Orihime had taken refuge with the Arisawa clan for years before she came into her power. Ichigo didn’t remember it too well, he’d been getting involved with street gangs and trouble, but when the news of Sora’s death had come to school, he could recall seeing Orihime smile a lot more. Only after they’d moved in together did she tell him more of the abuses she’d dealt with at the hands of her parents and her brother. 

“Staying for round two?” Yusuke asked as he approached the steps. “Or is this round gonna be three on one?”

“Next round takes place on my turf,” Ichigo brushed the suggestion away. “I wanted to ask about the two of you.”

“Same as it’s always been. We’re going to go live in a castle and you’re going to be an ally from another kingdom, fighting monsters and shit.” 

“She know that?”

“Hell, I barely knew until this morning. Is this why you hung around? To ask about my sex life?”

“No!” The idea of his old friends beign physical was the last thing he’d been thinking about. “I wanted to make sure you weren’t going to pull some stupid shit like I did and that my girl would be safe up here.”

“As safe as she’d be on any other case,” Yusuke stuck his hands into his pockets. “Gotta ask some of my kin in Makai about the details, but I’m pretty sure nobody’s dumb enough to copy your mistakes.” 

If it hadn’t been for the grin, Ichigo would have gotten upset. But this was Yusuke.

“Course not, but I’m asking if you’re dumb enough to try and outdo me.”

“Maybe,” Yusuke shrugged with a laugh. “I am about to ask her to play bait. Might need you guys to flush him out of Karakura by talking a big game about her and pulsing your ki or something. From what Kuwabara was saying, either he figured out who the rest of us are by stalking her, or I have some Makai bullshit to deal with on top of the ghost.”

“What’s Tatsuki going to be doing if it is Makai stuff?”

“She’s mine, so she’ll be directly involved.” Yusuke seemed to catch the confusion and surprise on Ichigo’s face, not to mention the sounds Ishida made further down the steps. “I gotta ask some questions, track down my kin in Makai, but she’s safer than anyone else in this place.”

Ichigo supposed that was the best answer he could hope for. He knew exactly what Yusuke meant when he claimed Tatsuki as his. It sounded the same as when Ichigo called Orihime his. That lacing of instinct that carried through a person’s voice when they spoke and told you they meant what they said from the bottom of their soul. 

“She safe from you?” Ichigo asked. The sound of the leaves was his only answer as Yusuke visibly thought it over. Ichigo understood the internal struggle better than anyone. The shift from human to something more and the uncertainty that came with it. The rush of power and comfort that came when you gave in to your instinct instead of relying on those frontal lobes was unlike anything else. It felt good in the moment but the pain and guilt that came after wasn’t always worth it. It took months for Orihime to talk him into giving an inch of control over. 

“Once Genkai trains her up she’ll be able to kick both our asses just like old times.”

“I’ll be back next weekend Orihime.” Ichigo stood up and dusted himself off before he faced Yusuke once more. “You fuck up and I’m bringing these guys again.”

~

Training in the depth of Karakura’s underground hadn’t been this grueling. Her torture in Hueco Mundo was the only thing remotely close to what Orihime was undergoing at the hands of the psychic. The difference was the emotion and reasoning behind each blow she was forced to block or counter. That and the wretched knowledge that Tatsuki’s training was much harsher than her own. Tatsuki was training with Genkai exclusively while the brunt of Orihime’s training was with Hisoka and Yukina. Yukina claimed to be a noncombatant but there was a good deal of evidence showing the opposite. 

“You’re fast,” Orihime gasped from the floor. 

“Hiei has been teaching me when he comes to the human world. It’s our way of bonding,” Yukina laughed as she extended a hand to help Orihime stand. “He still thinks I don’t know we’re siblings.” 

“Really?” Orihime blinked. “You’re practically twins though!”

“We are twins,” Yukina laughed. “Kazuma hasn’t realized it either, but I’d like him to have a happy human life instead of being shackled to the two of us.”

Orihime wondered at that. She’d thought the same thing about Tatsuki for a time until it was obvious that her friend was being hurt because of it.

“Shouldn’t that be his choice too?” Orihime asked. “If nothing else, he deserves a clean break.” 

“Maybe,” Yukina smiled softly before attacking once more. 

~

Big

Fucking

Mistake!

Orihime had used her healing powers on them before dinner. It had seemed like a good idea, and for the five minutes afterwards, it had felt amazing. Her muscles no longer ached and the microfractures in her hands and ribs weren’t grinding against one another for the first time since leaving the hospital. Her mother had been shocked, Yukina and Genkai even moreso, and the teen girls had been so tired and relieved that they hadn’t caught the glint in the old woman’s eye. 

Now her lungs and muscles burned as sweat seeped into the many scratches Tatsuki had gained by running through the brush. 

If you can heal so easily, you must be ready to keep training.

Except this round, Tatsuki was running from Yusuke as Orihime was forced to flee Genkai. As children it has been fun to play tag with Yusuke but now she dreaded the little things he’d done as a child. The way he’d pretend to almost catch her and then let her dart away once made her squeal in delight. She’d have to stop running soon; he always caught her. 

Tatsuki stopped at the edge of the clearing and willed the hagoromo to wrap tightly around her. It wasn’t much in terms of armor, but she’d seen how it stunned her gramma to strike the garment. She only hoped Yusuke might feel the same effects. 

He flickered into the clearing with a grin. The bastard was pretending he couldn’t see her hiding behind the trees. 

“You’re almost faster than Kuwabara,” Yusuke goaded her. “Maybe we’ll do this every night until you manage to outrun me. C’mon Tatsuki, I can hear your heart racing. I know you wanna punch me too, especially since I saw you changing earlier.” Yusuke’s face popped around the tree Tatsuki was hiding behind. “I didn’t know you had a birthmark under your right tit.”

Tatsuki ducked to try and get under him and felt her lips quirk when he grabbed hold of her arm. A stuttering sound erupted from his lips as his skin came into contact with her hagoromo and his grip loosened enough for her to break free. Tatsuki’s right hand swung up to jab Yusuke in the throat before her knee rose to strike his side. Her knee had barely made contact when he started moving again; the stunning effect didn’t last as long on Yusuke even if it was stronger. One of his hands had gripped her thigh just between the folds of her hagoromo though the other was grazing it by her wrist. 

Except the son of a bitch kept pulling her closer every time he recovered. 

“Let go,” Tatsuki tried to break free. In the brief seconds he was freed she found herself pinned against a tree. “Yusuke!”

He released her arm but still held her tightly. The bark was digging into her back and his stupid grin was bigger than before. 

“Pretty neat trick, but between those little stun attacks I can still move fast enough to take you down.” Both of his hands were gripping her thighs now, lifting her high enough that he only needed his hips to keep her in place. Not that he let go, if anything his fingers were drifting. “Not to mention it makes catching you a lot easier.”

“Weren’t we supposed to fight it out once you caught me?” Tatsuki wiggled against him. She was careful not to touch him with the hagoromo, going so far as to release it from her skin. “I turned it off.”

A shriek erupted from her lips when he hefted her up further and captured her hand with his own.

“You probably shouldn’t have,” Yusuke leaned closer. “How are you gonna stop me from kissing you?”

“I’m not.”

Tatsuki exhaled softly as his lips grazed the edge of her jaw. The hand which gripped his shoulder for balance moved along his neck to slide her fingers into his hair. She could feel his breath fanning hotly across her skin, eliciting chills of anticipation with every inch it covered. 

“Kiss me,” Tatsuki breathed. 

Tatsuki could not claim to have been actively dating anyone, nor to have had a great deal of experience, but Yusuke’s kiss was unlike the clumsy mashings of teeth she’d had behind the scenes at tournaments or in the dead of night at camp. The taste of him was intoxicating, his lips firm as they teased one another and maddeningly gentle with her. She couldn’t help but catch his bottom lip between her teeth. A light growl rose from his chest as she tugged it, suckling the flesh before she let it pop from between her lips. 

“I said, kiss me.”


End file.
